What Bluetooth profiles are supported by which MBP models?

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What Bluetooth profiles are supported by which MBP models?

I have a new set of stereo bluetooth headphones that will pair successfully with my colleague's MBP that is less than a year old using a stereo profile (A2DP I assume). But when I try to connect to mine, it WILL not connect in stereo and will only connect as crappy HSP or HFP. The only differences between our computers are as noted below:

My computer:

MacBookPro8,2

Bluetooth differences:

Firmware Version: v41 c821

Product ID: 0x821a

HCI Version: 4 (0x4)

HCI Revision: 821 (0x335)

LMP Version: 4 (0x4)

LMP Subversion: 16937 (0x4229)

His computer:

MacBookPro10,1

Bluetooth differences:

Firmware Version: v100 c5055

Product ID: 0x8286

HCI Version: 6 (0x6)

HCI Revision: 5055 (0x13bf)

LMP Version: 6 (0x6)

LMP Subversion: 8804 (0x2264)

I can find no documentation that says what Bluetooth services are available based on the MBP model or BT Firmware versions. Can anyone help me know before I go down a rabbit hole of trying to trouble-shoot this as to whether my earlier model MBP will even support A2DP profile?

Posted on Aug 22, 2013 2:53 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

squareman Author

Level 1

63 points

Aug 22, 2013 3:29 PM in response to squareman

Getting a little closer to the answer using Mactracker:

MacBookPro8,2's bluetooth is "Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR" and the

MacBookPro10,1's bluetooth is "Bluetooth 4.0"

This Wikipededia page doesn't get me any closer to the explicit answer from there, it does sound like it's this major firmware version difference. Since I don't know the actual chip difference and it seems as though Apple's never offered it, I'm going to assume that an upgrade of the firmware on the chip is not possible. This makes me sad.

FWIW, the Bluetooth version on the iPhone 5 is 4.0 and the headphones sound (reliatively) awesome there. I Guessed I'm married to the wire (that I contantly tangle in) at work for good audio until such time as they'll automatically upgrade my laptop.

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Answer 2

squareman Author

Level 1

63 points

Aug 22, 2013 7:49 PM in response to squareman

Oh, horsefeathers. That's not it. It works great on my even much older MacBook Pro at home (MacBookPro4,1 and BT 2.1+EDR).

Does anyone have any clue why it wouldn't connect to work Mac described in the top post above in Stereo?

I do not have the Stereo option available in the pref pane at work, but my workmate does and I do at home:

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Answer 3

squareman Author

Level 1

63 points

Aug 26, 2013 9:50 AM in response to squareman

So here's the the real answer: My MBP where I could not get the stereo profile to show up needed a fresh restart. Happily listening to the stereo profile as I type this. 🙂

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